Traditionally, shipping pallets have been constructed of wood slats and/or runners or stringers of various dimensions. Such wood pallets are relatively costly, even though they are generally cheaply made of relatively poor quality wood. The hasty assembly and poor wood quality result in pallets which may rapidly become damaged to the point of being unusable. Moreover, such pallets are relatively heavy, resulting in additional shipping costs to the shipper, just for the weight and volume of the pallets themselves.
As a result, pallets formed of other materials have been developed, and in fact pallets constructed of corrugated cardboard have been known since the early '60's, if not earlier. However, the various pallets formed of corrugated materials have been deficient in areas of strength, durability, warping, and/or environmental concerns (e.g., difficulty in recycling), compared to the present invention.
The need arises for pallets constructed of corrugated sheet material, which provide for specific orientation of the corrugations and laminations to provide additional strength and freedom from warping. Superior strength is achieved by providing multiple laminations of corrugated material, and notching the deck boards and stringers of the pallets for an interlocking fit and for the elimination of voids between components. The materials used are preferably recyclable in order to provide further environmental advantages.